Georgia Milestones Assessment Guide

1 Assessment Guide Georgia Milestones Assessment System Assessment Guide Grade 3. Copyright 2018 by Georgia Department of Education. All rights reserved. Table of Contents THE Georgia Milestones Assessment SYSTEM .. 3. Georgia Milestones END-OF-GRADE (EOG) ASSESSMENTS .. 4. Assessment Guide .. 5. TESTING SCHEDULE .. 6. DEPTH OF KNOWLEDGE DESCRIPTORS .. 7. SCORES .. 10. ENGLISH language arts (ELA) .. 11. DESCRIPTION OF TEST FORMAT AND ORGANIZATION .. 11. CONTENT MEASURED .. 12. GRADE 3 ENGLISH language arts (ELA): DOMAIN STRUCTURES AND CONTENT WEIGHTS .. 13. ITEM TYPES .. 14. ENGLISH language arts (ELA) DEPTH OF KNOWLEDGE EXAMPLE ITEMS .. 15. ENGLISH language arts (ELA) ADDITIONAL SAMPLE ITEMS.

2 24. ENGLISH language arts (ELA) ADDITIONAL SAMPLE ITEM KEYS .. 42. ENGLISH language arts (ELA) EXAMPLE SCORING RUBRICS AND EXEMPLAR RESPONSES 46. ENGLISH language arts (ELA) WRITING RUBRICS .. 50. MATHEMATICS .. 57. DESCRIPTION OF TEST FORMAT AND ORGANIZATION .. 57. CONTENT MEASURED .. 58. GRADE 3 MATHEMATICS: DOMAIN STRUCTURES AND CONTENT WEIGHTS .. 59. ITEM TYPES .. 60. MATHEMATICS DEPTH OF KNOWLEDGE EXAMPLE ITEMS .. 61. MATHEMATICS ADDITIONAL SAMPLE ITEMS .. 64. MATHEMATICS ADDITIONAL SAMPLE ITEM KEYS .. 76. MATHEMATICS EXAMPLE SCORING RUBRICS AND EXEMPLAR RESPONSES .. 79. APPENDIX: language PROGRESSIVE SKILLS, BY GRADE .. 83. Copyright 2018 by Georgia Department of Education.

3 All rights reserved. The Georgia Milestones Assessment System THE Georgia Milestones Assessment SYSTEM. The purpose of the Georgia Student Assessment Program is to measure student achievement of the state- adopted content standards and inform efforts to improve teaching and learning. Results of the Assessment program are utilized to identify students failing to achieve mastery of content, to provide educators with feedback about instructional practice, and to assist school districts in identifying strengths and weaknesses in order to establish priorities in planning educational programs. The State Board of Education is required by Georgia law ( 20-2-281) to adopt assessments designed to measure student achievement relative to the knowledge and skills set forth in the state- adopted content standards .

4 The Georgia Milestones Assessment System ( Georgia Milestones ) fulfills this requirement and, as a key component of Georgia 's Student Assessment Program, is a comprehensive summative Assessment program spanning grade 3 through high school. Georgia Milestones measures how well students have learned the knowledge and skills outlined in the state-adopted content standards in language arts and Mathematics. Students in grades 3 through 8 take an end-of-grade Assessment in English language arts and Mathematics, while students in grades 5 and 8 also take an end-of-grade Assessment in Science and Social Studies. High school students take an end-of-course Assessment for each of the ten courses designated by the State Board of Education.

5 In accordance with State Board Rule, Georgia Milestones end-of-course measures serve as the final exams for the specified high school courses. The main purpose of Georgia Milestones is to inform efforts to improve student achievement by assessing student performance on the standards specific to each course or subject/grade tested. Specifically, Georgia Milestones is designed to provide students and their parents with critical information about the students' achievement and, importantly, their preparedness for the next educational level. The Assessment system is a critical informant of the state's accountability measure, the College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI), providing an important gauge about the quality of the educational services and opportunities provided throughout the state.

6 The ultimate goal of Georgia 's Assessment and accountability system is to ensure that all students are provided the opportunity to engage with high-quality content standards , receive high-quality instruction predicated upon those standards , and are positioned to meet high academic expectations. Features of the Georgia Milestones Assessment System include: technology-enhanced items in all grades and courses;. open-ended (constructed-response) items in English language arts and Mathematics (all grades and courses);. a writing component (in response to passages read by students) at every grade level and course within the English language arts Assessment ;. norm-referenced items in all content areas and courses to complement the criterion-referenced information and to provide a national comparison; and a transition to online administration over time, with online administration considered the primary mode of administration and paper/pencil as a backup until the transition is complete.

7 Georgia Milestones Grade 3 EOG Assessment Guide Page 3 of 84. Copyright 2018 by Georgia Department of Education. All rights reserved. The Georgia Milestones Assessment System The primary mode of administration for the Georgia Milestones program is online, with the goal of completing the transition from paper/pencil within five years after the inaugural administration ( , the 2014 2015 school year). Paper/pencil test materials (such as Braille) will remain available for students with disabilities who may require them in order to access the Assessment . Georgia Milestones follows guiding principles to help ensure that the Assessment system: is sufficiently challenging to ensure Georgia students are well positioned to compete with other students across the United States and internationally.

8 Is intentionally designed across grade levels to send a clear signal of student academic progress and preparedness for the next level, whether it is the next grade level, course, or college or career;. is accessible to all students, including those with disabilities or limited English proficiency, at all achievement levels;. supports and informs the state's educator-effectiveness initiatives, ensuring items and forms are appropriately sensitive to quality instructional practices; and accelerates the transition to online administration, allowing over time for the inclusion of innovative technology-enhanced items. Georgia Milestones END-OF-GRADE (EOG) ASSESSMENTS. As previously mentioned, Georgia law ( 20-2-281) mandates that the State Board of Education adopt annual measures of student achievement in the content areas of English language arts (ELA) and Mathematics in grades 3 8 and Science and Social Studies in grades 5 and 8.

9 Students must participate in the Georgia Milestones content areas measured at the end of each grade in which they are enrolled. State law further mandates that student achievement in reading, as measured as a component of the Georgia Milestones English language arts (ELA) EOG Assessment , be utilized in promotion and retention decisions for students in grades 3, 5, and 8, while student achievement in mathematics, as measured by the Georgia Milestones Mathematics EOG Assessment , be considered in grades 5 and 8. Students who fail to demonstrate grade-level achievement on these measures must receive remediation and be offered an opportunity for a retest prior to consideration for promotion to grades 4, 6, and 9 ( 20-2-283 and State Board of Education Rule ).

10 Results of the EOG assessments, according to the legislated and identified purposes, must: provide a valid measure of student achievement of the state content standards across the full achievement continuum;. provide a clear signal of each student's preparedness for the next educational level ( , grade);. allow for the detection of the academic progress made by each student from one assessed grade to the next;. be suitable for use in promotion and retention decisions at grades 3 (reading), 5 (reading and mathematics), and 8 (reading and mathematics);. support and inform educator-effectiveness measures; and inform state and federal accountability measures at the school, district, and state levels.